I feel like I am slipping a little bit with the blog, this week has been extremely busy and I have had these pictures since Monday and I haven't had a chance to post them yet. Monday the pups had their 5 week puppy checks. They are all doing very well and we gave them their shots, kennel cough, and third round of dewormer. The vet is always amazed at the size of Belle's litters and how well each pup is doing whenever they come for their check-ups. She commented on how beatiful and well put together they are! The littlest puppy weighed 4.8 pounds (female) and the biggest weighed in at 6.2 (also a female) a couple of the males were close weighing around 5.8/5.9 pounds, but they can't quite keep up with "The Big Mama" as my daughter calls her. She is definately the alpha of the litter but is also very loveable and cuddly. She is big, but she is just a horse! She's put together very well, and probably the most athletic of the group. She can pretty much climb anything and will go anywhere when she decides she wants to get at something. They are all starting to show their personalities and are so much fun. As you can see from the pictures they love to sleep on the patio step. I went from letting them roam the patio because their whelping box couldnt contain them anymore to having to put up a wall in about a few days time because they were leaving pretty good messes behind all the time. Some of them occasionally still manage to get on the other side of the wall once in a while, but they enjoy having their own space on the step and in a portion of the patio and an outside kennel during the day. The renters that live in our basement have to use a different entrance to the house b/c the puppies have pretty much claimed the patio as their space for now! On Wednesday night they got their first taste of a pheasant and the scent it leaves behind. It was pretty cool to watch how when I drug it around the yard their noses immediately hit the ground. It was just so natural to them and almost like something they've done before. It's amazing how that instinct is just naturally there! Their little tails would wag, and they'd sniff the ground wherever the pheasant scent was in search of a bird! Some lost interest and others never quit until I finally put the bird away, but the ones that lost interest were in search of Belle. I can't believe that in less than a week some of the little guys will be going to their new homes. Although we're excited for them to meet their new families, they will be missed greatly in our home. I won't miss cleaning up all the poop and pee left behind and the extra large dog food bill (man they can eat) but they are a lot of fun to have around. Last night we put finger nail polish on some of the girls to help tell them apart. I can keep all of the males seperate, and a few of the females, but with 10 yellow dogs running around it gets to be pretty hard telling the 7 females apart. I look forward to meeting all of you in the next week or two, and am honored that they are all going to such great homes.
